Letter to Prez Bush from Bette Middler

Pretty eloquent wouldn't you say? Sorry about spacing errors...a consequence of cutting and pasting from email.

> Dear President Bush, Today you called upon Congress to move quickly to amend the US Constitution, and set in Federal stone a legal definition of marriage. I would like to know why. In your speech, you stated that this Amendment would serve to protect marriage in America, which I must confess confuses me. Like you, I believe in the importance of marriage and I feel that we as a society take the institution far too lightly. In my circle of family, friends and acquaintances, the vast majority have married and divorced - some more than once. Still, I believe in marriage. I believe that there is something fundamental about finding another person on this planet with whom you want to build a life and family, and make a positive contribution to society. I believe that we need more positive role models for successful marriage in this country - something to counteract the images we get bombarded with in popular culture. When we are assaulted with images of celebrities of varying genres, be it actors, sports figures, socialites, or even politicians who shrug marriage on and off like the latest fashion, it is vitally important to the face of our nation, for our children and our future, that we have a balance of commitment and fidelity with which to stave off the negativity. I search for these examples to show my own daughter, so that she can see that marriage is more than a disposable whim, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary.> As a father, I'm sure you have faced these same concerns and difficulties in raising your own daughters. Therefore I can also imagine that you must understand how thrilled I have been over the past few weeks to come home and turn on the news with my family. To finally have concrete examples of true commitment, honest love, and steadfast fidelity was such a relief and a joy. Instead of speaking in the hypothetical, I was finally able to point to these men and women, standing together for hours in the pouring rain, and tell my child that this is what its all about. Forget Britney. Forget Kobe. Forget Strom. Forget about all the people that we know who have taken so frivolously the pure and simple beauty of love and tarnished it so consistently. Look instead at the joy in the beautiful faces of Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon - 51 years together! I mean, honestly Mr. President - how many couples do you know who are together for 51 years? I'm sure you agree that this love story provides a wonderful opportunity to teach our children about the true meaning and value of marriage. On the steps of San Francisco City Hall, rose petals and champagne, suits and veils, horns honking and elation in the streets; a celebration of love the likes of which this society has never seen. This morning, however, my joy turned to sadness, my relief transformed into outrage, and my peace became anger. This morning, I watched you stand before this nation and belittle these women, the thousands who stood with them, and the countless millions who wish to follow them. How could you do that, Mr. President? How could you take something so beautiful - a clear and defining example of the true nature of commitment - and declare it to be anything less? What is it that validates your marriage which somehow doesn't apply to Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon? By what power, what authority are you so divinely imbued that you can stand before me and this nation and hold their love to a higher standard? Don't speak to me about homosexuality, Mr. President. Don't tell me that the difference lies in the bedroom. I would never presume to ask you or your wife how it is you choose to physically express your love for one another, and I defy you to stand before Del Martin and Phyllis Lyon and ask them to do the same. It is none of my business, as it is none of yours, and it has nothing to do with the "sanctity of marriage". I'm sure you would agree that marriage is far more than sexual expression, and its high time we all started focusing on all the other aspects of a relationship which hold it together over the course of a lifetime. Therefore, with the mechanics of sex set aside, I ask you again - what makes a marriage? I firmly believe that whatever definition you derive, there are thousands upon thousands of shining examples for you to embrace.

You want to protect marriage. I admire and support that, Mr. President. Together, as a nation, let us find and celebrate examples of what a marriage should be. Together, let us take couples who embody the principles of commitment, fidelity, sacrifice and love, and hold them up before our children as role models for their own futures. Together, let us reinforce the concept that love is about far more than sex, despite what popular culture would like them to believe.

Please, for the sake of our children, for the sake of our society, for the sake of our future, do not take us down this road. Under the guise of protection, do not support divisiveness. Under the guise of unity, do not endorse discrimination. Under the guise of sanctity, do not devalue commitment. Under the guise of democracy, do not encourage this amendment.

NO.She does volunteer work for NYC and the parks.The woman does many good things. And her voice i wish i had her talent.She is a talented Dame. I also love her in the movies. Her new one comes out soon (STEPFORD WIVES)

Hardly the first thing she's done right in ten years. She has done quite a bit for number of worthwhile causes. Now, admittedly, she is no Jessica Simpson or X-Tina (can Jessica even spell marriage?)but, at least she is making a stand and doing so in avery clear and eloquent manner.

For her work on her video "Beautiful", Christina Aguilera received the GLAAD award. What is this award?

Every year, The Gay & Lesbian Alliance Against Defamation awards artists for their work in the fair depiction of those in the gay and lesbian community. On Saturday April 26th, at the 14th annual award show, Christina Aguilera was among the artists to receive the award for her inclusion of gay and transgendered images in her video "Beautiful".

"It's so important that in my music I convey positive messages, and this song is definitely a universal message that everybody can relate to - anyone that's been discriminated against or unaccepted, unappreciated or disrespected just because of who you are," Aguilera said in her acceptance speech. "It was so important to me that I support the gay community in this sense. It's so sad that still in 2003 we even have to give awards like this. And that's why I'm here to show my love and support to all of you."

And Chistina should be applauded for that as should every celebrity that does something in their art or in their private lives to battle discrimination of any kind. She deserved the honor she got from GLADD

Before we turn this into a Christina vs. Bette thread -- in today's contentious world and divided nation, quite a luxery competition -- let's raise a toast to Midler's chutzpah, eloquence and graceful and persuasive argument for this cause. As much as I love her fire, I'm also moved by her simple plea that we honor love in this society. Anyone who thinks she abandoned the community that first found her should take heart in her embrace of this movement. It's a movement that, as this letter validates with real fervor, clearly has a life of its own.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

Don't worry Auggie, I don't think will turn into a Bette vs Christina thread. Regardless of whether or not you like a persons style, whether or not you are a fan of a particular person, when they put themselves on the line, as both these women have, to satnd up for a good cause, you have to respect that

Thank you for posting this - I've sent a copy to all my friends - you GO Bette!

"I don't really get the ending,all i can go with is when after several months,Judith saw Pat sang,and later she kissed him on the toilet,after that the story back to where Pat went down from the stage after he'd sung,and he went to the italian lady.I just don't get it,what Judith exatcly meant when he kissed Pat that she had seen,and did Pat end up together with The Italian Lady?Please help me,thank u very much!"
Quote from someone on IMDB in reference to a movie he/she didn't understand. Such grammar!

Truth be told, a lot of people -- a lot of GAY people included -- weren't really on board about this issue until Bush drew his line in the sand and in the process made people realize what a civil rights issue this is. Before that, no one thought it a community-wide concern (many of us discussed it at this very board) and not a battle worth taking on ... well, not now. But there's nothing as powerful as somebody -- especially a "uniter" like the current President saying "I want to fix it so you'll NEVER, EVER have that option..." to light a fire under a lot of us. Don't hold Bette's waffling against her. She has come around in the most powerful way possible.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

Yeah, we'll, catting around is a prerogative of the species. Straight people cat around, marry, divorce, cat around some more, and have the option of re-marrying after finding trophy kittens. Come on, let gay cats try it on for size. So to speak.

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling

now, auggie, this is exactly the kind of thing that republicans and the more fanatical mambers of the right wing are worried about: you are clearly here agitating for cats to have the same rights as humans. obviously the next step would be interspecial marriage and god forbid, cat people. where does it end, auggie, that's what i ask you!

r.i.p. marco, my guardian angel.

...global warming can manifest itself as heat, cool, precipitation, storms, drought, wind, or any other phenomenon, much like a shapeshifter. -- jim geraghty

LOL Papa and floats. As befits this board, I'm reminded of the New Yorker's famous precis of that long-running event at the Winter Garden: "...a show that argues persuasively that cats should be allowed to hold office..."

Perhaps if a big ol **** gets elected to a policy making position, we'll see some changes in perception. (MasterLcZ, see what you and Bette started?)

"I'm a comedian, but in my spare time, things bother me." Garry Shandling